Posting board



June 16, 1942.

E. A. GODLEY POSTING BOARD 'Filed July 1, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VENTOR. EDW/N H, GODLEY Z flTTUR/VEY E. A. GODLEY POSTING 150m) June 16,1942.

Filed July 1, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet; 2

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HTTORNEY Patented June 16, 1942 POSTING BOARD E win A. .Godley, NewYork, N. Y. .assignor to S. D. Leidesdorf ,& 00., New York, N. Y! apartnership Application July 1, 1940., SerialNo. 343,369

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to posting .devices, and moreparticularly, to a posting board for .collating .a plurality of formsfor simultaneously making .entries on the various forms in a singleposting.

Heretofore, in various bookkeeping operations, especially in bookkeepingoperations covering installment and lay-away accounts receivable inchain stores, various .devices have been used. Thus, in thesimplestcase, a receiptor voucher was made and handed to the customerand the data contained therein have been transferred :to a proof sheetand to a ledger card. Of course; this conventional procedure involvedtranscription operations requiring a great .deal .of time and frequentlycausing transcription lerrors. Other systems of bookkeeping.involvedL-the use of bookkeeping machines or tabulating machines whichhave been prohibitive in cost for .smaller enterprises. Although alsovarious other suggestions and proposals were .made to provide a deviceand a method wherein a unit posting provides multiple records, .aszfaras I am aware of, none of these prior procedures and devices wascompletely satisfactory and successful.

I have discovered that the .problemflmay .be solved .in remarkablysimple manner.

It .is an .object of thelpresent invention 'Ltoprovide a posting devicewhich eliminates the .above disadvantages and inconveniences ofconventional devicesand procedures.

.It is another object of the present invention to .provide a novel andimproved .posting device for collating two ormore forms whereby-entriesmay be made on .the various forms ,in .a single posting.

It .is a :further object of the present invention to provide apeg type.postingfboard adapted to receive and to hold three, or more, formsincluding a proof -sheet, a .customers receipt and a ledger .card, .onwhich entries .may be made ina single posting operation wherebygreat-efficiency in operationisobtained and the possibility oftranscription errors .is completely eliminated.

' It is also within thecontemplationof the invention to provide aposting board in combination with'forms of special character whichautomatically indicate the writing line into which the next entryhastobe made.

The invention also contemplates a novel peg type posting boardoperatively associated with a plurality of formslof special characterwhich is simple in construction, fool-proof in operation and whichmaybe. readilymanufactured and sold on a practical and commercial scaleat a low price.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, :in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective .view of a preferred embodiment of theinventionin its operative position;

Fig. Zdepicts' .asimilar view of a peg strip employed-in connection.with the deviceof the invention;

Fig. ;3 shows a fragmentary and enlarged perspective view of theperforated hinge forming part of the posting board embodying ;theinyention;

Fig. '4 is .a top elevatlonal view .on a larger scale .of the postingboard embodying'the invention with a plurality of forms placed thereonin operative position;

Fig.5 illustratesa vertical sectional view taken on line :5;5 of Fig. A,the distance between the various sheets or forms being exa gerated forreasons of clarity; V

Eig. 6 depicts aperspectiye view ofcneof the customers receipts employedin connection with the device shown :in the previous figures; and

iEfig. '7 shows a similar :view ,of ,amodifled form of customersreceipt.

Broadlyysta-ted, according to the principles of the invention, a pe typeposting board is provided constituted of a board made of Bakelite wood,@metal, or some other smooth and hardsurfaced material. -The sizeof-this board is governed;byithe;type of .record'toibe maintained andthe space required .for posting these records. A special typeofperforated hing -is attached to one of the side'edgesof this postingboard,.the;lower lidof said hinge'being attached tothe board while.theupper lid thereof isprovided witha-rowoi openings to permit a row ofpegs to .protrude therethrough. 'Two pegs are attached .tothe lowerlid-of gthe hinge adapted to cooperatewith aspecialand removable pegstrip containing .pegs spaced at. equal distances :fromeach. other. Thespecial pegstrip .is also provided .Wlth:t-WO holes adapted to cooperatewith the pegs protruding from the lower lidlof thelhinge-whereby thespecial Jpeg strip may be readily inserted into :the hinge and may .bereadily removed therefrom.

Forms of various size and character having rows.

of holes providedin oneside thereof may be insertedon these peg stripsand maybe locked in predetermined position by closing the upper lid of=the hinge. 4 Generally speaking, I prefer to. use

a proof sheet, a plurality of vouchers or customers receipts mounted inshingle-like relation, and a ledger card in such relative position thatan impression made on one of the writing lines of the ledger card may besimultaneously transferred to both the customers receipt and to theproof sheet by means of transfer sheets providedbetween the proof sheet,the customers receipt and the ledger card. I have found it desirable toprovide some means to automatically indicate the writing line into whichthe next entry has to be made in order to make the entry in consecutivewriting lines of the proof sheet. In addition, in various cases I preferto employ a voucher or receipt strip of a composite character which maybe separated in to two or more portions, or units. These units of thevouchers may be used for statistical and other purposes, as it will beexplained more fully hereinafter.

The invention will now be more fully explained to those skilled in theart in connection with the preferred embodiment thereof illustrated inthe drawings. Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5 of thedrawings, essentially a posting board I is provided resting on aplurality of feet 2. These feet may be of equal length or the two feetlocated underneath the upper portion of the board may be longer in orderto assure an inclined direction of the board and thereby to facilitatemaking the various entries thereon. A special type of perforated hinge 3is attached to the left edge of the posting board. The lower lid 4 ofthis hinge is attached to the posting board by means of screws 5. Twopegs 6 are attached to the lower lid of the hinge, one at the top of thehinge and the other at the bottom. The upper lid 1 of the hinge foldsover the lower section and is provided with a row of elongated openingsor holes 8 to permit the upper and lower pegs to protrude when the hingeis closed. A special peg strip 9 (Fig. 2) made of metal and containingpegs l spaced at equal distances from each other is provided having ahole I l at the top and at the bottom thereof in the same relativeposition as pegs 6 on the lower lid of the hinge. Peg strip 9 serves asa holding device upon which the various forms such as a proof sheet,carbons, unit receipts, etc., may be mounted. Peg strip 9 fits into agroove l2 between the upper and lower sections of hinge 3 and is held inplace by the two pegs B on the hinge, as well as by downward turnededges l 3 on the peg strip itself which lock over the top and bottomedge of the posting board. The upper section of the hinge is perforatedto permit pegs Ill on the peg strip to protrude when the hinge isclosed. The spacing of the pegs in the peg strip and the holes in theupper lid of the hinge conform to each other. The distance between theindividual pegs may be varied according to the spacing desired on theposted records.

While hinge 3 provides secure locking of the various forms at the lefthand edge thereof, I found it to be desirable to provide additionalelements to hold the forms against the surface of the posting board.These elements comprise strips of spring metal l4 joined to upper lid 1of the hinge and running across the width of the posting board. Thesestrips of metal are provided with a locking and lifting device at theextreme right edge thereof, at the point where they meet the right-handedge of the posting board. This locking and lifting device is providedby turning the edge of the spring metal strips in order to provideindentations l at the point where they meet the edge of the board. Afinger lift I6 is provided by straightening the edge of the strip afterthe indentation has been made. At the point where the indentation on themetal strip locks over the edge of the posting board, a small metalpiece (not shown) may be inserted into the board and acts as a guidetrack and bumper. When both of these strips are locked in place, theforms that are mounted on the peg strip are solidly and positivelylocked into position. Pegs H] on peg strip 9 extend above the lockedupper lid of hinge 3 sufiiciently to permit placement of a thirdcollated form, or ledger card thereon.

The left-hand marginal portion of all forms to be used with the postingboard of the invention are punched with holes that conform to the pegson the peg strip. I prefer to use a primary or proof sheet I! properlyruled. and containing all of the columnar headings covering the figuresto be entered on the record. A sheet of transfer paper or carbon paper I8 which also contains punched holes along its left binding edge, isplaced on top of the proof sheet with the holes likewise looked over thepegs on peg strip 9. I prefer to make this carbon sheet of the samedepth but of a width which is inferior to that of the proof sheet sothat some of the right hand columns of the proof sheet remain uncovered.This narrower Width of the carbon sheet has the object to permitvisibility of the last posting previously made to the record and thusenable proper collation of the record card with the other records.

A series of unit receipt forms l9 containing punched holes 20 in theleft edge, are next mounted on peg strip 9 in a shingle-like manner sothat each receipt form extends one writing line above the precedingreceipt form. A sufiicient number of such receipt forms are mounted inshingle-like arrangement to provide for each available writing line onthe proof sheet. For example, the pegs on the peg strip may be mountedone-half inch apart from each other, likewise the holes on the proofsheet and on the carbon paper are punched one-half inch apart. However,as it is desired to use a Writing line every quarter of an inch, theholes on the individual receipt forms are punched one-quarter of an inchapart. To obtain a staggered arrangement of the receipt forms upon thepeg strip, the first receipt is so placed that its bottom hole lies uponthe lowest peg, the second receipt is placed so that its lowest holelies in the space between the lowest peg and the next lowest peg, andthe third receipt so that its bottom hole lies upon the second lowestpeg, etc. In this arrangement of the receipts, there is one-quarter ofan inch spacing between the top of each receipt. This one-quarter of aninch is the space upon which the written information will be entered. Inthis manner, there is a minimum of paper between the writing and carbonsurfaces.

A second carbon sheet 2| also containing holes along its left edge isnext placed over the mounted unit receipts. This carbon sheet has alsothe same depth as proof sheet I! but is considerably narrower than theproof sheet or even the unit receipts. This reduction in the width ofupper carbon sheet 2| permits easy access to the uppermost remainingreceipt form [9 in order that it may be securely grasped between thethumb and forefinger of the right hand and snapped out at tearing line22. After proof sheet ll, the first carbon l8, unit receipts l9 andsecond carbon 2| have beenmo'unted upon peg strip 9, the peg strip islocked over the two pegs in the lower section of hinge 3 andthe hinge isclosed, the metallocking strips M being clamped onto the right side ofthe board.

From the foregoing description the operation of the postingboard of theinvention will be readily understood by those skilled-in the art.Individual customersledg'er cards 23 containing holes along the leftedge, for example spaced onequarter of an inch apart, are used. The nextavailable writing line on ledger card 23 is manually collated with thenext open receipt l9 on the posting board, and this ledger card isplaced in correc ipo'sition by dropping it over pegs ID of peg strip 9protruding through openings 8 of the closed hinge. The bookkeeping entryis then made in pencil, indelible pencil or ink pencil to the ledgercard and these entries produce carbon copies upon the uppermost receipt1-9 and upon the proof sheet I'l. Ledger card 23 is then withdrawn andreturned to its master file. Hereinafter, the customers receipt I9 issnapped out and given to the customer and the board is now in positionfor the next posting operation. Due to the fact that each subsequentledger card is collated with the next open receipt form, the entriesupon the proof 'sheetappear in consecutive order, properly spaced, forexample each one a quarter of an inch below the other.

When the last receipt of the sheet of receipts i9 in shingle likearrangement has been used on one set up, hinge 3 is unlocked, peg strip9 is removed together with the various sheets thereon, and a new set upmay be immediately mounted upon the posting board. In practicaloperatron. extra peg strips are provided so that there may be no timelost between the posting of the last entry on one proof sheet and thefirst entry on another. A column is provided on the right hand sectionof the proof sheet for a pick-up of the old balance. Thus, at the end ofeach proof sheet it is possible to prove the accuracy of the individualentries by adding the amounts shown in the various columns andcrossfooting the totals to see if they check out. If the totals of theproof sheet do not check out, a simple review of the individual lineentries can then be made to ascertain where the error has occurred.Inasmuch as the account number is entered with each-posting, it is asimple matter to refer to the filed ledger card in the event of an errorand to make the necessary correction,

The dimensions of the proof sheet, customers receipt, ledger card, andof the first and second carbon sheet depend on the type of record to bemaintained and the space required for the posting of these records. Forexample, in a practical installation employed for installment andlay-away accounts in a chain store, I have employed a proof sheet about12 inches wide and '17 inches deep mounted on a posting board which was14 inches wide and 18 inches deep. This proof sheet was provided with arow of holes at the left edge thereof spaced half an inch apart. A sheetof carbon paper having punched holes alo'ng'its left binding edge at thesame distance was placed on top of the proof sheet and was 17 inchesdeep but only 8 inches wide. A series of unit receipt forms in astaggered or shinglelike arrangement was placed on top of this firstcarbon, each receipt form being 8 /2 wide and 2 deep. The holes in theleft hand edge of the unit receipt forms were punched one-quarter of aninch apart corresponding to writing lines portions.

on e'ach quarter of an inch of proof sheet. The second carbon sheet alsohaving holes along its left edge was also 17" deep but only 6%" wide.The reduction in the width of the second carbon sheet was possiblebecause the ledger card upon which the original entries are made wasonly 6 /4 wide. The individual customers ledger cards were 6 wide and 8"deep and contained holes along the left edge thereof spaced onequarterof an inch apart correspondingto a writing line one-quarter of an inchin width. Of course, these dimensions of the various forms to be used inconnection with the device of the invention are merely illustrative asvarious other proportions and dimensions may be used in accordance withthe bookkeeping or accounting problem contemplated.

Although the forms mounted on the posting board clearly indicate thenext writing line of the proof sheet onto which the next entry has to bemade, in order to avoid the possibility of error and to furtherfacilitate proper collation of the individual ledger cards, I provide anauxiliary and direct indication of the next writing line wherein theentry has to be made. For this purpose I print a black dot 24 or someother mark on the writing line of the customers receipt. In addition, Iprovide a second row of holes 25 both in the left hand edge of customersledger card 23 and in the left hand edge of second carbon sheet 2|. Thissecond row of perforations does not take any part in securing thevarious forms or carbons to the peg strip and the only object of theirprovision is to render the black indicating mark or dot 25 on thecustomers receipt visible to the operator. As it will be readilyobserved particularly in Fig. 4, the black. mark 24 of the uppermost andoperative customers receipt will be visible to the operator throughholes 25 of second carbon 2| and customers ledger card 23, directly andpositively indicating the writing line of the amount or ledger cardwherein the next entry has to be made. appreciated, that this simplearrangement facilitates the proper insertion of the customers ledgercard and prevents making any entries to a wrong line.

The general appearance of the customers receipt will be best observed inFig. 6. The unit receipt i9 is provided with a single writing line 25which is in the same line with indicating mark 24. This writing line isalso provided with various headings 21 which facilitate interpretationof the data appearing in the writing line after the unit receipt hasbeen detached. A further box 28 may be provided on the lower portion ofthe unit receipt for additional insertions. This unit receipt isprovided with a row of perforations or holes 20 which are'engaged by thepeg strip and may be easily detached at tearing line 22 and handed tothe customer.

In some cases it is advantageous to provide a unit receipt which isseparable into a plurality of A unit receipt or voucher of thisseparable type is depicted in Fig. '7. It will be noted that thismodified form of voucher is closely similar to the one shown in Fig. 6and has a writing line 38 cooperating with headings 3|. holes 32 isprovided in the left hand marginal portion of this voucher for mountingit in predetermined position on a peg strip, and a tearing line 33 isprovided to facilitate withdrawal of the complete strip. In addition, asecond tearing line 34 separates the unit voucher into two portions 35and 36. Of these, 35 may serve the It will be readily.

ArowofJ purpose of a voucher which is retained by the sales clerk toindicate the amount of sales made by him while the second portion 36 maybe transmitted to another department of the store to analyze the sale,for example to determine the sales appeal of a certain merchandise or todetermine the quantity of merchandise which has been sold and has to bereplaced. Preferably, the two tearing lines 33 and 34 are so constructedand arranged that tearing line 33 is considerably weaker than 34 so thatwhen pulling the voucher at the right hand end thereof it will bedetached at 33 and not at 34.

It will be noted that the present invention provides a number ofimportant advantages. Thus, first of all a novel and improved postingdevice is provided which is capable of carrying out a number ofbookkeeping functions by means of unit posting of multiple records.

It is also to be observed that the devices and the forms of specialcharacter embodying the invention permit to simultaneously make theentries on a plurality of forms in a single posting whereby greatefficiency in operation is obtained and transcription errors arepositively eliminated.

Moreover, the forms and the devices embodying the inventionautomatically and positively indicate at all times the writing linewherein the next entry has to be made thereby speeding up operation,rendering improper entries impossible and making it possible to use theforms and the device without any special training or knowledge ofbookkeeping.

Furthermore, the device of the invention is extremely simple incharacter and very inexpensive to make and to use so that it may beemployed at a minimum of trouble and expense.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with apreferred embodiment thereof, variations and modifications may beresorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from theprinciples of the present invention. I consider all of these variationsand modifications as within the true spirit and scope of the presentinvention as disclosed in the foregoing description and defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A posting board comprising in combination a base member, a hingedmember having its lower lid connected to one of the marginal portions ofsaid base member, at least two pegs in the lower lid of said hingedmember, a removable peg strip bearing a plurality of uniformly spacedpegs inserted between the upper and the lower lids of said hinged memberand having holes through which the pegs of said member may protrude toremovably hold said peg strip, said peg strip being adapted to receiveand to hold a plurality of sheets bearing marginal rows of perforationsin predetermined relative position, and a row of elongated openings inthe upper lid of said hinged member cooperating with the pegs of saidpeg strip to fix said sheets in such relative position between saidupper and said lower lids, said pegs'having such dimensions as toprotrude through the upper lid of said hinged member to an extentsuflicient to permit collating of additional perforated sheets above thehinged member in the closed position thereof, and the upper lid of saidhinged member having a substantially smooth and unobstructed uppersurface to provide a smooth supporting surface for the perforatedmarginal portions of such additional sheets.

2. A posting board comprising in combination a base member, an elongatedhinge having its lower lidsecured to one of the side edges of said basemember, a peg'attached to the lower lid of said hinge at each endthereof, a removable peg strip bearing a plurality of uniformly spacedpegs inserted between the upper and the lower lids of said hinge andhaving holes through which the pegs of said hinge may protrude toremovably hold said peg strip, said peg strip being adapted to receiveand to hold a plurality of sheets bearing marginal rows of perforationsin predetermined relative position, a row of elongated openings in theupper lid of saidhinge cooperating with the pegs of said peg strip tofix the marginal portions of said sheets in such relative positionbetween said upper and said lower lids, and holding strips extendingfrom the upper lid of said hinge along the' width of said base memberfor fixing the remaining portions of said sheets, said pegs having suchdimensions as to protrude through the upper lid of said hinge to anextent sufiicient to permit collating of additional perforated sheetsabove the hinge in the closed position thereof, and the upper lid ofsaid hinge having a substantially smooth and unobstructed upper surfaceto provide a smooth supporting surface for the perforated marginalportions of such additional sheets.

3. A posting board comprising in combination a base member, an elongatedhinge having its lower lid secured to one of the side edges of said basemember, a peg attached to the lower lid of said hinge at each endthereof, a removable peg strip bearing a plurality of uniformly spacedpegs'inserted between the upper and the lower lids of said hingeandhaving holes through which the pegs of said hinge may protrude toremovably hold said peg strip, said peg strip being adapted to receiveand to hold a plurality of sheets bearing marginal rows of perforationsin predetermined collated position, and a row of elongated openings inthe upper lid of said hinge cooperating with the pegs of said peg stripto fix the marginal portions of said sheets in such relative positionbetween said upper and said lower lids, said pegs of the peg stripextending beyond the upper lid of said hinge to an extent suflicient topermit collating of additional perforated sheets above the hinge in theclosed position thereof, and theupper lid of said hinge having asubstantialy smooth and unobstructed upper surface to provide a smoothsupporting surface for the perforated marginal portions of suchadditional sheets.

EDWIN A. GODLEY.

